IRS Science Communication Wiki
Our Project This wiki page is a formatted collection of the work we've produced in order to understand how the science of climate change is communicated to the general public. Our Team We are UCL first-year Natural Sciences students who have come together to form an IRS research group, short for 'interdisciplinary research skill', under our supervisor Eleanor Armstrong. What is science Communication? Some Basic Theory behind Science Communication Information taken from Science Communication - A practical guide for scientists by Laura Bowater and Kay Yeoman Scientific Literacy ' * definition comprises the following four aspects: *# knowledge of basic text book facts of science *# an understanding of scientific methods *# an appreciation of the positive outcomes of science and technology *# a rejection of superstitious beliefs * there have been several programmes aimed at improving the public's scientific literacy. Some are briefly summarised below: ''Public Understanding of Science Programme * "schemes for science promotion were initiated, including a fund for speakers to talk to organisations and an annual book prize" * "bovine springform encephalopathy (BSE) and genetically modified (GM) food in the UK are often cited in the science communication literature as perfect examples of the failure of the deficit model." The deficit model uses a general lack of understanding to explain society's skepticism and distrust in science and technology. * the PUS (public understanding of science) programme made the public more critical, which was seen as a success Public Engagement with Science and Technology Programme * after the PUS programme was criticised for employing a top-down approach with a focus on one-way communication from the science community to the public, the PEST (public engagement with science and technology) programme focused more on dialogue * was more successful as "access to specialists was provided and multiway dialogue was observed" '''Constructivism * often regarded as "most useful and relevant theory that can explain how people learn about science in both formal and informal situations" * the following must be satisfied in order to apply the ideas behind constructivism: *# Relevance - e.g. by connecting information to a local event or locally known person or place *# Participant Learning and Interaction - e.g. by encouraging "hands-on activities, questions or opinions", "reflections and self-analysis" and "debates about controversial issues" ... Science communication for the UN https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E8rXg3Nv7U Summary: “Scientists have an obligation to communicate what they are doing. All of us as taxpayers within the EU are investing in these individuals, are investing in their labs, investing in the work that they do.” Rhonda Smith, Director of Minerva Communication, UK Communication is not dissemination: * “Dissemination is there their day jobs. Dissemination is about the production of papers that can be presented to pear revue journals and ensuring that those are published.” * On the other hand, “Communication is to inform and reach out to society. … It should be addressed to multiple audiences that go beyond the projects own community, while the audience of dissemination are the ones that may use the result.” Alexandra Ruete, Communication Officer, DG Research and Innovation, European Commission * Treated as two different ideas in the Grand Agreement: ** Paragraph 38.1 for the communication aspect ** Paragraph 29 for the dissemination aspect ... Science communication for Tedsters ... How did I end up communicating science? | Fiona Auty | TEDxTeddington Nov 21, 2013 Summary: Communicating science became important to apply for funding. She became an interpreter for every project inside MTL to apply for funding. (over 500 projects by 1990). Philosophy: ask dumb questions and provide a simple answer (fundamental questions, accessible answers). ... Sharing science through story: Fergus McAuliffe at TEDxDublin Oct 10, 2013 Summary: Through history, society has demonstrated a profound fascination for science: le siècle des Lumieres, the industrial revolution. Providing accessible science is still the mission of the Institute of Science, the Science museum, the natural history museum... There are however obstacles that make science communication harder: * Different definitions for words (we will look for example at the different definitions of uncertainty) * Scientific parlance : communicating science to scientist and communicating science to scientists is very different. A solution to these problems? Storytelling: it creates interest and, excitement to learn the why of the what, to get to the end of the story. “Simple language does not mean simple thinking.” ... Science communication on Youtube ... Dustin J. Welbourne, Will J. Grant : Science communication on YouTube: Factors that affect channel and video popularity A content analysis of 390 videos from 39 YouTube channels. ... Breaking Barriers, YouTube and Science Communication August 13, 2014 Summary: The author has noted that "Today’s society is very dependent on science and technology, yet many are ignorant or uninterested about science and technology". Three problems of science communication today were identified: 1 - Failure in engaging students in schools, 2 - This disengagement is kept through adult life, 3 - Failure to highlight the importance of science in everyday society. “What makes YouTube such an appealing medium for the communication of science is its inherent visual nature." "When combined with the accessibility and convenience of the YouTube platform, these channels have tapped into a massive audience base- a population of people who are interested in science, but are unable to find a convenient, relevant platform to access it." If we take for example the channel Vsauce, and its creator Michael Stevens: "Since the channel’s inception in 2010 VSauce has expanded to almost 8 million subscribers. His 298 videos combine for more than 660 million views, averaging close to 14million views per month.” ... Examples of Scientific Youtube channels which consider climate change related topics: * A Homemade video about depolluting water * Starving Polar Bear on Iceless Land | National Geographic * Journalistic channel Vox : For example, The diet that helps fight climate change Let's talk about climate change Why looking at climate change science communication? #### (funding, impact) ... Visual representations of Climate change : using visuals to communicate = ... Factfulness by Hans Rosling : Chapter 10 the urgency instinct “The urgency instinct makes us want to take immediate action in the face of a perceived imminent danger.” “We do not seem to have a similar instinct to act when faced with risks that are far off in the future.” “This attitude towards future risk is a big problem for activist who are working on long timescale.” “Very often, it is by convincing us that an uncertain future risk is actually a sure immediate risk, that we have a historic opportunity to solve an important problem and it must be tackled now or never: that is, by triggering the urgency instinct.” “This method can make us act but it can also create unnecessary stress and poor decisions. It can also drain credibility and trust from their cause. The constant alarm makes us numb to real urgency.” “I don’t like exaggeration. Exaggeration undermines the credibility of well-founded data: in this case, data showing that climate change is real, that it is largely caused by greenhouse gases from human activities such as burning fossil fuels, and that taking swift and broad action now would be cheaper than waiting until costly and unacceptable climate change happened. Exaggeration, once discovered, makes people tune out altogether.” The public has shown signs that it has been influenced by the communication of climate change: Throughout the book, Hans goes over 13 questions he had asked around the world, and question 13 about climate change was the only one where more than half of the answers were right. “Whenever we talk about the future we should be open and clear about the level of uncertainty involved. We should not pick the most dramatic estimates and show the worst case scenario as if it were certain”, as this would be unscientific. “We should ideally show a mid-forecast, and also a range of alternative possibilities, from best to worst. If we have to round the numbers we should round to our own disadvantage. This protects our reputations and means we never give people a reason to stop listening.” The ends may justify the means in this case, but that solution only lasts on a short-term and may hinder any other long-term solution. ... A major gulf between Scientists and the general public #### ... Method brainstorm How can we evaluate the impact of scientific communication on climate change? * Surveys or Fully structured interviews? This has been used for our infographic. ** Qualitative questions ** Quantitative questions * Semi-structured Interviews? Eg: How much change to your daily life has hearing about climate change brought? * Test results? Eg: How well do people score on tests about climate change? * Content analysis? Eg: Using google trends : looking at people's online searches. * Ethnography? Eg: visit a museum where a piece discusses climate change a observe how people react. * Social media? Eg: how many retweets can a tweet about climate change, or what is the number, type of comments? * How much has a source has become cultural? Eg: planet earth. * Has the subject left the field of science? Eg: Climate change in art. References Infographic 1 Smith N, Joffe H. doi:10.1080/13669870802586512 2 Zacks J, Levy E, Tversky B, Schiano D. doi:10.1007/978-1-4471-0109-3_11 3 Höijer B1. DOI: 10.1177/0963662509348863 4 Victoria Wibeck doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2013.812720 5 Saffron J.O’Neill and MikeHulme, doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2009.07.004 Others: - UN interview video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E8rXg3Nv7U - How did I end up communicating science? | Fiona Auty | TEDxTeddington Nov 21, 2013 - Sharing science through story: Fergus McAuliffe at TEDxDublin Oct 10, 2013 - Dustin J. Welbourne, Will J. Grant doi:10.1177/0963662515572068 - Breaking Barriers, YouTube and Science Communication August 13, 2014 - Factfulness by Hans Rosling : Chapter 10 the urgency instinct Latest activity Photos and videos are a great way to add visuals to your wiki. Add one below! ☀ Category:Browse Category:Science Ideas Category:UCL IRS Category:Science communication Category:Group project